Stig Östlund

onsdag, november 09, 2011

Shenzhou 8 spacecraft successfully docks with Tiangong-1



STANDBY: Staff members conduct preparations
before the launch of Tiangong 1 space
 lab module at the Beijing Aerospace
 Control Center on September 29 (XINHUA)
At 1:36 a.m. on November 3, nearly two days after it was launched, the unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou 8 docked with space lab module Tiangong-1, or Heavenly Palace-1. The docking represents another significant milestone for China's space program.
Shenzhou 8 was carried into space by a modified Long March-2F rocket, which took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province at 5:58 a.m. on November 1. The Tiangong-1 space module was sent into space on September 29.


The success of the docking procedure makes China the third country in the world, after the United States and Russia, to master the technique. The mastery of space docking technology takes the country one step closer to establishing its own permanent space station by 2020.

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